Quality Time
by angie9281
Summary: Changes have been plentiful as of late and needing added security at his new Shreveport New Blood Complex, Eric puts his faith in Willa. Can he trust her to measure up to her predecessor Pam or will the wedge between them be renewed?


**Chapter 1**

It had been a time of change and transition. It had been three and a half months since Bill had decided to meet the true death and thusly had reunited with his family. It had not been a easy thing for his friends and vampire family to accept but as time had gone on, so had they. Not that anyone would ever forget or stop caring for Bill, but life would always have to go on and so it was. In a slightly surprising turn of events, there had been a changing of the guard as someone needed to replace Bill as the king of Louisiana. Again offered the position, Eric once more refused but suggested someone he felt could do a good job. Almost as good as he felt he would have done himself. For almost two months now, Pam had taken charge as the queen of Louisiana, her rule thus far had gone well. Surprisingly well, in fact. It had taken some convincing to put her in such a lofty position and it had even come to the Viking promising to take over for her should things go awry. He had such faith in her doing well that he was willing to make that promise. A promise he had discussed long and hard with Sookie. But she too had faith that Pam would make a decent enough queen.

Her new responsibilities as queen of Louisiana had therefore caused Pam to step back for the most part working at Fangtasia as well as helping out with running New Blood. As such, Eric had decided it was time to get someone else into the fold. Someone he knew was long overdue to get her due. "So." Sookie said one night as they were watching some TV. "Willa is starting to work for you tomorrow?"

He sighed. "Yes and I hope she does what I tell her. She reminds me greatly of Pam and in some ways it's a good thing and in other ways….well, she can simply be stubborn and hardheaded."

"Runs through the bloodline." Sookie teased. "But I think it will be good for you to spend more time with her. I know how angry she was at you after you left for six months. She only had Tara to help her learn about being a vampire and I guess Pam too, to a point. I also know how important family is to you and I know you've tried to make things right with her. Even though you released her…"

"There are a lot of things I regret and I wish I could do over. My handling with Willa was driven out of vengeance against her father for what he was trying to do to vampires. And I was so blinded by rage after losing Nora…..Willa wound up paying the price for my…..emotional weakness." he frowned.

"I have told you over and over, you are not weak just because you feel. That you care so much and have such passion for those you love…..it makes you stronger I think. As much as you would never want to admit it, I think you are grateful for getting some of your humanity back. I've been a good influence on you." she giggled as he gave her a feigned look of annoyance.

He took the remote from her and flipped the television off. "We've been invited to a party at Pam's newly renovated home tomorrow night by the way. She wanted to keep her home back in my old neighborhood but wanted to expand. She bought the house next door and she has quite the palace of her own now. I had only the best in security installed for her and threatened every last guard at her complex that if even a hair of her head is harmed then they will regret it."

"Always the motivator." she said with a yawn. "I think I am going to bed….are you coming?"

"Like you have to ask?" he winked. "Though I think its safe to say there won't be much sleeping, not until I am done with you." he paused and looked thoughtful. "It's….been a good few months, hasn't it? I mean-"

"I know you would never come right out and ask but as far as being a good husband goes, there is not anyone else who could hold a candle to you. And I am thankful for every day we have had together. And thinking back on the past, how many times we lost each other…..I don't ever want to go through those times ever again. I know with us being as we are there is always danger about but-"

He put a finger on her lips gently. "I don't want you to have any worries. I am not leaving town again. I am not going to do anything stupid or reckless-unless I have no choice. And I will not ever have eyes for anyone other than you. Now. Before dawn comes, let's break in the new bed that came today, shall we?"

She laughed as he gave her a funny, coy smirk. "I can't believe you had that bed handcrafted from the trees near your old Viking palace…..it's so pretty."

"And sturdy….far sturdier than anything you may find at…Ikea." he grimaced. "I swear, that place makes my people look…I just don't know." and with that thought, he took her upstairs

**Chapter 2**

It was convenient now, to have a smaller, second complex for the operations of New Blood. Rather than having to travel to Stockholm on a two to three times a month basis, Eric could oversee things in the complex just finished in the past three weeks in Shreveport. Built on the site of one of the now defunct True Blood factories, there were over five hundred employees here in the states and with another half dozen factories springing up across the country, the number of employees of New Blood was growing at a steady pace. Both vampires and humans worked for the company and for the most part, relationships were good. And if there were any differences that turned violent, it was taken directly to a room meant for discipline. Depending on if it was human or a vampire and also on the infraction, there was either glamouring, punishing with silver implements or worse. Sookie had seen the results of one of the more extreme cases as she came to visit Eric during the first week the new complex was open, seeing a cleaning crew disposing of the remains of a vampire who he later told her had been attempting to sell the secret formula. All disciplinary matters were taken care of by Eric himself, with detention cells hidden deep under every factory and both headquarters in Stockholm and Shreveport. There, the prisoner would await their fates

Arriving at the Shreveport complex before dawn in a light tight sports car, Eric was careful not to reveal to anyone that he could, thanks to the bracelet given to him by Sookie's grandfather, walk in the sunlight for several hours at a time. Such a secret revealed could put himself and his lived ones in danger, for any vampire would be crazy not to want to get such a object in their possession. Though it could, according to Niall, only work for Eric and could also allow him passage to Faery. Still, if it were taken from Eric, it could still cause him great trouble, especially if Sookie managed to get herself into trouble in the daylight. Exiting the vehicle, he went up to his office as security guards and other workers gave him a wide berth. He was a goof but strict boss but his reputation was great and no one with half a brain would be foolish enough to try anything funny behind his back. Then again, the detention rooms had seen their fair share of blood and glamouring all the same.

In his office, he went through the books and waited for his driver to return with Willa. He was looking forward to showing her the reins of this place and as he had told Sookie, wanted to form a better connection with the girl he had not been a good maker to thus far. Several hours later and after working at the computer for what felt like even longer, he answered the intercom and allowed a guard to escort her up to him walking in, she was wearing a slim fitting dark navy suit, her dark hair pulled back into a neat ponytail and her subtle makeup giving her a older appearance than she really was. She offered him a small smile as he gestured for her to take a seat across from him. "I am glad you accepted my offer to come work here. I think you will do well-I know you will do well in fact."

Willa looked at him warily. "I hope I don't come to regret this…"

He pursed his lips and leaned back in his chair before getting to his feet and paced behind his sleek black desk. "I am….sorry for what was done to you. For making you what you are. I left you untaught and unprepared for your new life and I can only hope that by working here with me that you can somehow forgive me….eventually. Or at least stop hating me."

There was a silence as Willa looked at him. "I don't hate you. I did ask to be turned, didn't I? not to say you up and leaving me didn't suck. But Pam and Tara and everyone in Bon Temps…..they took me in and looked out for me. I never mourned my father, Truman, you know? He was no better than Hitler getting that camp open and the things he had done to vampires…..I think he deserved what he got. I will never forget the look in his eyes when he realized what had happened to me, that I became the thing he hated most…I felt used by you and then betrayed. Abandoned. But then everything happened with hep v….you almost died and…..I was scared for you. Because no matter what you've done, at least you are trying to make up for the past. My human father? He was soulless. Cruel. I think we could make a good team. Not as good as you and Pam or you and Sookie make, but….." she trailed off. "So…..where am I going to be working?"

**Chapter 3**

Security detail. Out of all the others he could have chosen, it had been Willa who had gotten the job and was what she was now doing. Mostly, she was to be Eric's bodyguard and she was honored that he had selected her for the job. Not that she felt he was one who needed protection but she was also to keep the lower ranking guards of the complex in line. There would be some paperwork she would need to take care of, filing things away and some light computer work, mostly. But she was determined to take this new job and run with it. And he was, of course paying her quite well. And with her being given his old house in the development where Pam's new mega mansion-slash palace was located, Willa was more than reasonably cared for "How do you like your new house, by the way?"

Willa looked at him as they walked down a hallway, past offices and then past the doorway leading to the factory part of the complex. "I like it but it definitely needs more of a woman's touch. And Don't get me started on the weird places I have found dried up blood. I don't want to think about the crazy parties or company that's been had there." she said dryly but then smiled. "But it's a nice place and it's nice to have Tara nearby. And Pam. I hear there is a party tonight you and Sookie are going to? I was surprised to be invited as well, to be honest. I didn't think she really cared for me."

"She has her own way of showing her feelings towards others. She can get quite….possessive and jealous and never really handled me having Nora in my life. But I knew she still was upset upon learning of her passing. A little bit, though I know she would never admit it to me. She knows she can not hide much from me, sometimes words are merely not needed between us. We just know each other that well."

"Well, of course you would, after a century together…..and even with Sookie you two know each other so well….hell, you know Tara more than you know me. I think all of this will change things though." Willa said brightly. "Where are we going, anyway?"

"I want to show you where you will be patrolling. It is the most important place in the whole building, a place I only ever trusted Pam to watch over. As secure as it is, I would much prefer that there be someone in the area at all times that I trust implicitly. Even with all the security measures, threats and glamouring I always make sure are drilled into people's heads here, I still can not completely trust that there aren't still some wolves in the henhouse, so to speak."

"You trust me that much…..to protect something so valuable?" Willa said as they came to a door at the end of a hall. A panel where one would place their finger print was on the right side of the knob less metal door.

"A few days ago I had to change security clearances here at this point until I came to the decision to put you here. I believe I may have pissed off those who had worked here in this area before, but I am the boss, am I not?" he put his hand flat against the panel and there was a clicking sound as the door unlocked. Allowing her to enter first, Willa realized that this was the heart of the New Blood operations. There were bottles of blood on the left and right side of the room and she was well aware of what she was seeing.

"This is the formula…I mean, this is what makes New Blood so much better than-"

"Better than the rest and formerly the cure to hep-v. it still remains a cure, should that disease ever rear its vicious head again. But the taste, what makes it the most palatable and popular synthetic blood in the world is all in that computer and in the bottles you see before you.. Your job is to allow scientists with fresh batches and new research to enter and to keep an eye on them. You see anything remotely suspicious, you will go straight to the intercom on the wall there and I can be here in seconds." there came a buzzing noise on the door and opening the door from the inside, Eric was immediately greeted by liquid silver to the face while Willa's face paled even further by the flood of people entering the large chamber.

**Chapter 4**

The four vampires were led by a scientist, the second in command out of those who had first managed to synthesize Sarah's blood. Two of the vampires had gone straight to the Viking, managing to shackle him in silver and it was unnerving and befuddling to Willa how seemingly easy they had managed to put the drop on them.

"So you are the vampire daughter I've heard about…..the daughter of the late Truman Burell, of all people." sneered the lanky scientist, no older than 50 and with salt and pepper hair. Willa said nothing as she saw Eric break out of the apparently inadequate amount of silver that the gloved vampires had thrust around him. As the four vampires regrouped against their own boss and once more set to restrain him, the scientist glared at Willa. "My name is Dr. Ruska. Thomas Ruska. I would have preferred us meeting in other circumstances but I have grown tired of taking orders from the dead. I feel that it is because of my work that such success has befallen your precious maker here and I intend to take my claim by force."

Willa looked past the doctor to the quartet of vamps who had Eric who was still reeling from the silver spray to the face. It was apparent he was blinded and was trying to heal his injuries. "Willa…..you can do this…..dispatch of them, you can do this." he grunted against the cheap shot one of the vamps took at him, a knee to the gut. Enraged that their territory, their business was being threatened, Willa spring into action, taking the skills she had learned from Pam and Tara and finally putting them to good use.

Seeing that their boss was firmly secured, the four vamps joined the doctor who produced a silver stake from under his lab coat as well as a canister of the same spray that had been used on her maker. "Looks like there is some fight to you. But you won't last long against these guys. They are all ten times your age and no baby vamp can hope to make it long against even one of them. And to think who your maker is….oh wait…he abandoned you and left you to be taught by a former brothel owner and her girlfriend. That's just as good." the doctor sneered. And it was by that jab that Willa's ire was truly lit. she glared at the five men who dared try to steal the company's most well guarded secrets, secrets that could, if in unscrupulous hands, could spell the end of New Blood and the fortunes of her maker. Willa was not about to let that, or worse, happen.

"I am not as weak as you think I am. As it so happens I have come to learn a great deal from my maker and you are gonna regret coming in here. I am not the pushover I used to be. Anger is a powerful weapon, especially when it comes to a vampire."

Shrugging off her threat, the dark haired vamp dodged the onslaught of the four vamps, kicking them and jabbing them with her elbows and knees. As the fists flew and she was nimbly able to dodge them, she also spotted some silver chains in one corner of the large room. Zigging and zagging, he managed to ensnare the four vamps in the silver, wanting instead for her and Eric to finish the job together, a kind of bonding experience. But the doctor, she wanted to keep for herself and as she knocked him onto his back, he grazed her with the stake, slitting a gash in her left hip area. Ignoring the searing pain from the silver stake, she pinned him to the ground with her strength and prepared to enjoy a easy meal. seconds from plunging her fangs into the doctor, she felt a tug as she was pulled firmly off of the man who was starting to laugh. Confused and annoyed she was being denied a trophy of sorts, she turned to see just who had put a stop to her fun.

"Well done. I can safely say you have passed the test. Your hands are healing nicely from the silver and your hip is coming along nicely already. But still, drink this." he had moved at stealth speed to a hidden cabinet and pulled out a plastic pouch filled with a dark red blood. "I always keep a stash of the real stuff around just in case. And for the vamp scientists that often work in here." Eric said, freed of the silver chains. "Fake silver chains." he explained as he took in Willa's expression. "I made sure you would get the real stuff and trust me, I paid those vamps there well to take the abuse you dished out. Better go let them loose." he left her for a moment and released the wounded vamps from the real silver chains that Willa had maimed herself with all in the effort to save the company secrets and her maker.

"I apologize for leading you on." the doctor said as he got to his feet and offered a hand to Willa, who after looking at Eric, shook it slowly. "You are surely his progeny, of that there is no doubt. I think you could even give Pam a run for her money and that is saying something." the doctor looked at Eric. "Do you wish me to take them to the infirmary and get them all put back to rights?"

"Yes." replied Eric. Addressing the injured vamps who were taking the chance to congratulate Willa on a job well done, he thanked them as well before sending them off with the doctor. Alone with Willa, he looked at his three piece suit, bloodied and ripped up a bit from the fake battle. "At least the shoes remain unscathed." he mused looking at his feet. Then he saw the gash in his Italian loafers and cursed something Swedish under his breath. "Good thing I keep extra clothing here…..Pam insisted I did just in case. And she was right. But do not tell her I said that."

Willa managed to laugh, feeling on edge still but appreciative too. "You were never in any danger and neither was I. you put on a good show, I have to give you that. Could've done without having to pick up silver with my bare hands though."

"Well, it was never meant to be a cake walk, though I never would have put you in any real danger. So…..as you are now officially head of security for my, especially in this section of the complex, what do you think?"

She looked thoughtful for a moment and pushed back a strand of long dark hair that had fallen into her face. "I feel…..really good. Trusted. Worthy of the bloodline I am a part of and I actually feel completely a part of your family. And I like it."

"Then I succeeded more than I intended to." boasted the Viking. "And perhaps you will be up to coming to Pam's party this evening?"

"Wouldn't miss it for the world." relied Willa as they departed the room, taking care to lock the room securely once more.

**Chapter 5**

"So things went….well?" Sookie asked as they made the drive to Pam's mansion. Dressed in a pale blue cocktail dress that nearly matched the eyes of her vamp hubby, Sookie was relieved to hear the events of the day had bode well for the relationship of Eric and Willa. "She really does care about you, you know she always has….while you were missing, she did try to find you and even went to the authorities to see if there was any sightings of you. She always knew you were out there somewhere. But her anger at being left behind made her give up looking. I am glad you two are good. And that you hired her."

Eric remained silent for a few minutes as they sped closer to Pam's. "As I burned on the mountaintop, as I was dying from hep-v, I finally had something driven home into me. That family was everything. More than power, more than money. And you had a hand in changing my priorities, you know that. She surprised me, even, with her skills taught to her by Tara and Pam. I suppose I will need to give them a token of my appreciation that is well past due….."

She patted his arm gently. "You are stubborn but you have done something brave. Admitting your mistakes and trying to make up for them. And as far as family goes, I think ours is one anyone would be foolish to mess with ever again, though I know there are those out there who will try to screw things up. , Together, I think we will go forward being stronger than ever not just with our powers-"

"Please don't say 'love', I don't think I could stand that….."

"You took the word our of my mouth and don't you try fooling me. You've got a lot of love in you, for those who have left us and for those still here. Now. Can we get through this party without ruining these clothes? Willa texted me a picture of the suit you wrecked at the New Blood complex today. Sheesh, you go through more clothes than anyone else I know."

He laughed as they arrived at the entrance of the gated community he once called home. Now, he had a home that held meaning, a purpose. Something he didn't think he would ever see in his thousand years of existence.

**The End**


End file.
